In our Word Nerd “Tips and Tricks” post, we talk about Kaelin Witt’s Word Nerd Dictionary of Obscure & Enchanting Words, and how you can use this or a similarly structured book to help spark a story idea.
Turn to a random page in any kind of dictionary you have available: the first word you see is the title of your new story. Try not to sit too long with the word and instead let your imagination take the reins with whatever first pops into your head. If you are not immediately inspired, feel free to try another word. But I would challenge you to find something in that first word that you can latch onto, even if it seems uninteresting at first.
Bonus challenge: tie a string of these stories together under one singular theme.